Case study: the customer service operator

Can you describe your working routine?We work for six days at a time and we have a night shift. There are three weeks per shift, so that means three weeks of nights and three weeks of days. The night shifts run from 8:30pm to 8am. The day shifts are eight hours. Our department is in Changsha, which is far away from my home, and at night there are no buses so it is hard to get back. We are paid a little more for night shifts. We have one day free a week.

Can you describe a typical day?It's very busy. I answer questions from customers and take orders from the website about our online market. We confirm the orders that are placed by customers. We call the customer to get them to come online to receive the gold or the power-levelling services that they have ordered. I talk to more than 100 customers a day. We send in-game emails or mail to customers' accounts. I also talk to them through MSN and live chat. I can talk to them through online chat if they are in the game.

How many customers do you serve?Every day we have many customers, old and new. We have more than 100 employees in this company and a big number of customers, although I don't know how many exactly. Most of our customers are from America but they are all kinds of people – students, old, young – people of all ages and careers.We get to meet people from all over the world, such as Spain and Germany. We have customers from China, but most of these are studying or working abroad. Maybe less than 5% of our customers are actually in China.

How much do you get paid?The gold farmers are paid more than 1,500 yuan (£150) per monthhere. I am paid 2,500 yuan (£250) per month. If you create more value you gain more from the company.

Can you support your family on this?I support my one-year-old son, but my parents also help.

How much are your products worth?Every year we make more than 10m yuan (£1m). The company is growing fast – it's better than when I started in December 2007. There were less than 100 workers when I came and there are 130 now.I think this is a fast-growing and developing industry in China – I know lots of others like us, and our main competitor is bigger than us. This company is owned by Chinese people and people from the famous universities in China are involved in it.

How will the financial crisis affect you?All people are worried about the financial crisis. It's a hard question for us now – people are losing jobs and cutting salaries, there are many challenges. But it's fine at our company – things are better than before. When people get depressed they enter the game world because they have lost their jobs and have nothing to do.

How does the company work?The company grows day by day. We have many departments such as production, sales, trade, programming, advertising and so on. We have good organisation and a specific working area for each employee. This is a new and innovating area for the economy. Our working conditions are good. The only difficulty is that we have to work a night shift.

Are most of your customers male or female?Most are male but some are really rich women. One woman from America bought $2,000 gold in one transaction. The biggest transaction I have seen was one person who bought 100,000 gold, which cost $3,000 to $4,000 [£2,000 to £3,000]. For me this is a lot of money but for them it is not. Most people buy small amounts, such as 1,000 gold, which costs $25.

What about the employees – are they mostly male or female?Most of the gold farmers and power-levellers are male, but most people in my department – customer services – are female. We once had a male in our department but he left.

How many languages do you speak?I speak Chinese, English and a little German. My major was English at university – I like it very much. In our company we need to speak English.

What's the best thing about your job?The best bit of my job is that I get to talk to Americans and I get to know something about their culture. I get to speak another language and earn some money.

Do you get to talk to customers about their lives?In some departments they talk to us about their lives, especially old customers. You get to know about cultural differences – one of our salespeople was talking to a female American buyer about marriage. The customer got angry – Americans think that we shouldn't talk about that. We are two different cultures.

What's the worst thing about your job?I don't know if the company is good or bad – there are no laws to consider whether the company is good or not. I am thinking about whether to continue or whether to quit. The night shifts make me tired.

Where did you grow up?I grew up in the countryside in Hunan province. I have studied since I was four years old. I went to university and graduated when I was 22.

How did you get into this mode of employment?I tried to find a foreign sales job in Changsha but the inner city does not have so many opportunities in this field, so I applied for customer service in this game company, Wow7gold. I have a curiosity for the game world and I like communicating with people all over the world, so I chose this job.

Do many Chinese graduates have problems finding jobs after university?After I graduated I found it difficult to get a good job. In the inner city it's hard to find a good foreign sales job with a big company. But in the city we can find more jobs than in the countryside.

How does your company's pay compare to other salaries in China?In some departments where it's really high technology or you have to speak English you get high pay; in other departments, it's normal.

Does your company provide you with holiday or sick pay?If we're sick we get no pay, but in the spring festival or national holidays such as Labour Day we get paid. We get more than two weeks off a year.

Do other firms treat their workers so well?All companies like ours are good to their workers. The bosses and their workers are so young – they are all around 20 years old. This is very young compared to workers in "real" factories and companies.

Is gold farming an opportunity or a threat for countries such as China?These firms provide the employee with a place to live and money to earn. This is a way of living for some people. We face unemployment in some areas and China has a large population so the challenge is more severe. This is a new kind of economy in the world due to the new global connection. However, it is a competitive world, there are many companies like ours in many countries. The other thing I am worried about is the specific law for this gold-farming economy. It is not so clear yet.

Is your company taxed at present?The Chinese government wants to put tariffs on the industry but I'm not sure how that will work. The company pays something to the government now but I'm not sure how much.

What should the government be doing?The government should lay down the law on what makes a good and bad gold-­farming company, like in other industries. If they want to tax the industry they should make laws for it like they have for shops in the real world. There are no specific laws for this industry – work hours, salary, holiday, pension and medical fees. Other companies have laws on that.

Do you think your job is meaningful?It is meaningful. Everything that appeals to some people in the world needs some people working to produce it. Our products are just like real products that have a distinct value. We are allowing people to buy what they want, and we care about that. The buyers are happy, and we are happy – we both have good feelings from the game world.

Would you rather be doing something else?If I could find another way to make this money I would do it. I want to work in foreign sales for a real company. I would also get better paid and probably get better conditions. I've studied languages and foreign sales. The game world is not a real career for me. But I would consider staying if conditions improved.

What do you say to people who argue that buying your services is cheating?The rule for the game world is that buying is cheating, but people can't stop this kind of thing because the demand is so strong. Most want to have gold but they don't have time to find it, or they don't want to repeat a quest to do it. Buying gold is quicker – it just saves time. It's just like services that are provided in the real world.

This interview was facilitated by Anthony Gilmore, an independent film maker who is currently investigating Chinese gold farms as part of his new film, Play Money, due to be released at the end of this year. For more information visit playmoneyfilm.com